FRANKFURT: European stocks fell on Thursday, dragged by technology stocks that came under fresh selling pressure while investors assessed mixed earnings and disappointing key economic data.
The pan-European STOXX 600 slipped 0.7 percent to 567.9 points.
Data showed euro zone retail sales unexpectedly fell in September, challenging expectations for a consumption-led recovery.
“That feeds into the idea that there’s a storm coming and investors are being very cautious,” said Nick Saunders, CEO of stock trading platform Webull UK.
Most tech stocks declined as worries over stretched valuations lingered.
European technology stocks led sectoral declines, falling 1.9 percent.
“Any bad news is being punished quite badly and tech stocks particularly so. The bull run has been propelled upwards by tech stocks and the idea is that they’ll be the first to fall, so no one wants to be the last one holding them,” Saunders added.
The healthcare sector rose 0.4 percent. Novo Nordisk gained 1.9 percent after rival Pfizer lost a legal bid to block the Danish drugmaker’s offer for Metsera, according to a source.
AstraZeneca rose 3.1 percent after it beat expectations for third-quarter earnings. Novonesis gained 6.9 percent after reporting stronger-than-expected organic sales growth in the third quarter.
In other moves, disappointing results from France’s Legrand stoked recent worries around elevated valuations in tech-related companies.
Legrand, which makes equipment for data centres, slumped 12.2 percent, marking its worst day since March 2020, after reporting sales growth of 11.9 percent in the first nine months of the year, slightly below expectations, with a hit from US tariffs.
Other electrical equipment makers, including Schneider Electric and Siemens Energy, lost 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, as investors scrutinized areas in the market that have rallied recently on the back of enthusiasm for AI.
Zalando jumped 6.6 percent after the online fashion retailer said it plans to expand in sports clothing as it announced a German soccer partnership and reported higher third-quarter growth.
DHL advanced 8.6 percent, to the top of the STOXX 600 index, after the logistics giant topped market expectations for third-quarter operating profit.